Muntean / Rosenblum

Arndt & Partner Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin

The London-based collective will show a group portrait of six teenagers that persistently confront us with people, whose appearances disclose them as children of our times. They are wearing up-to-date clothes, they are young, handsome, and seemingly adapted to our society. Yet, in a peculiar way they seem out of place

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With the solo exibition of the London-based collective Muntean / Rosenblum Arndt & Partner, Berlin, are delighted to announce the inclusion of this significant position of contemporary art into the gallery program.

Below a group portrait of six teenagers a text in capitols reads: 'We wereboth surprised and touched but could hardly express any emotion,because somehow, having left behind the pain in contemplation, so little of us was there, to be pondered on or grasped'. Is this really a thought of one of the potrayed? Or is this rather a quote that has been layed into the mouths of those upon first sight carefree looking young people? The words seem to impede and at the same time to replenish them with a depth, of which the youngsters do not yet seem conscious of.

The works of Muntean / Rosenblum persistently confront us with people, whose appearances disclose them as children of our times. They are wearing up-to-date clothes, they are young, handsome, and seemingly adapted to our society. Yet, in a peculiar way they seem out of place. The vacant look in their eyes reveals that they have learned to embody the stereotypical image of youth reproduced by mass media. They are the products of a society marked by MTV and they have adapted the message of the advertisement industry well. At the same time, the written text in the paintings implicate that the portrayed persons are consciously or unconsciouly longing for so much more. It is precisely this yearning for security and respect, for affection and for a fullfilling goal of life one reads in their facial expressions, that creates this unmistakable presence of all of Muntean / Rosenblum's characters. The protagonist's isolation, which they chose themselves, but which they are not responsible for, hinders them from seeing their own dreams come true.

The works of Muntean / Rosenblum often refer to traditional formulas of expression, in order to represent certain emotions. By transferring representational conventions to their own work, they succeed in disclosing how -throughout history- the meaning of a certain gesture may change into it's contrary. In one of Muntean / Rosenblum's works for example, the lasciviously bending gesture of a male adolescent characterized by lethargy and boredom is reminiscent of traditional representations of Christ's removal from the cross or depictions of martyr. Despite the artists' rather specific handwriting, they employ a wide range of formal approaches: Besides their widely recognized works on canvas as well as their drawings, Muntean / Rosenblum also present their remix of art history and contemporary society in the media film and installation.

Text by Thorsten Albertz

Image: Muntean / Rosenblum, Untitled (In those days everything...), 2005, oil on canvas, 260 x 220cm, MUN0005

Arndt & Partner
Zimmerstrasse 90-91
D-10117 Berlin
Opening Hours
Tuesday to Saturday 11 am - 6 pm

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Arndt & Partner Checkpoint Charlie

IN ARCHIVIO [22]

Two exhibitions
dal 30/4/2009 al 25/6/2009